


Dahlia

by ShiDreamin



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Autumn, F/M, Felix's Unsuspecting Green Thumb, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Blue Lions Route Spoilers, Floriography, Fluff, Language of Flowers, Pining, Zine, Zine - Netteflix Calendar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-18 13:27:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28743975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShiDreamin/pseuds/ShiDreamin
Summary: Dahlia (n)| Grace, Kindness, and a warning of Betrayal“You don’t need to protect me!” Felix had yelled, weary but alive.“Of course I do!” Annette had hissed, and when they had won by her magic rather than his she had laughed.Gladiolus when she kisses him for the first time, feverish and half-certain they’re going to die. He gives her baby’s breath; she gives him pine.
Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic/Felix Hugo Fraldarius
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16
Collections: Zine Pieces





	Dahlia

The notebook had been Annette’s mother’s. A leather cover binding glossy pages, not a single word within them except dates. Flowers, and leaves, pressed dry, were all that needed to be said on those pages.

Wyvern Moon. Goldenrods.

Guardian Moon. White carnations.

Harpstring Moon. Her birthday.

Bluebells.

Those were simpler days, happier ones, when mother and father brought her out to dance on the crunching leaves, surrounded by vivid reds, oranges, yellows. Even then, when all she was capable of was simple noises and babbles, they said she liked to sing.

Those times didn’t last.

The book is a quarter full when Annette arrives to Garreg Mach, alone with a trunk that holds enough clothing for half a year and a small personal bag stuffed full of old lecture notes. She trudges her wardrobe up two flights of stairs, bumps into both professor Hanneman and the famous Manuela.

She meets the future king eating _grass_ when she cracks open the notebook.

“Your Highness…?” Dimitri either doesn’t hear her or opts to ignore her—neither are particularly flattering when the only objects apparently worth his attention are weeds. There’s a Duscur man there by his side, speaking in low tones that Dimitri either acknowledges in nods or silence. He picks up dandelion, as yellow as his hair, and chews on its stalk.

It’s when he moves to the stinging nettles that she has to interfere.

“Your Highness, that’s dangerous!”

Not a moment too soon. Annette heaves a sigh at the sight of the nettles gripped tightly between armored gauntlets—if it were skin contact, she would be more concerned. The white glow of healing magic fades from her fingers as she kneels down to meet Dimitri and his friend’s gazes.

“Those are stinging nettles. They’re poisonous,” she informs them, biting her lip. She pulls out gloves from her small pochette, pulling them on before taking the small weeds from her future king. “They make good splashes of colors, though, once dry.”

“Thank you for protecting His Highness,” the man speaks, bowing at the waist. He straightens once more, hand almost hovering over Dimitri’s shoulder.

“Feh. Should have just let him eat it. How weak must you be to die to weeds?”

The new voice comes from behind the lumbering tall man. Someone short, taller than Annette but practically childlike compared to His Highness and his friend, walks out. His blue hair is messily tied away, with rebelling stray strands accenting his scowl.

“That would be treason!” Annette sputters. She winces, half expecting the Duscur man to attack the other, only for Dimitri to sigh, shaking his head.

“Felix, enough.” Dimitri commands, shoulders drawn back and regal even in a school uniform. “Please be kind to your new classmates.”

“What,” Felix snarls, snapping his glare from Dimitri to Annette and back. “Is that an order?” His hands inch towards the sword strapped to his hip and for not the first time, Annette wonders if her life will end here today.

It doesn’t. Thankfully.

She’s extraordinarily grateful for Mercedes being in her class. She’s extraordinarily _horrified_ to find Felix here too, sitting with a red haired man who asked Annette about Tennessee not once, but twice. She doesn’t even know what Tennessee is!

Manuela is a kind professor, despite her late mornings and tired afternoons. There are few who can teach Annette half as much about faith magic, and fewer who can teach her twice as fast. Her afternoons are spent in the library combing through textbooks to understand the intricacies in spells.

Garreg Mach’s gardens are famed even in the Kingdom. They are no disappointment up close, and she spends her evenings in a small corner room shared by few others, including the new Reigan lord and the Empress’ rather eccentric handler. They create toxicities she strays far away from, but they do leave her supplies and flora alone.

A sprig of foxglove, laid flat and preserved in wax, becomes a fitting bookmark for her trusty Reason textbook.

Castor beans, smashed and pressed with paints, becomes a reminder of the first sparring match she won.

Cherry Laurel is their first real conversation.

“Is this your book?”

“Woah!”

Annette stumbles, bumping into a table. Felix raises a brow, but rather than any biting word she’s come to expect from the man, he simply waves her journal in the air.

“This is yours, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is!” She hesitates, expecting perhaps an eye roll or a childish insult, but he simply drops it into her hands. Two surprises, seconds apart. Felix frowns at her after a moment, scoffing.

“What?” He snaps, turning away. “You don’t want it? Even though you’re always singing with it?”

“I do!” Annette insists, before his words register properly. She sputters, feeling her cheeks bloom red. “Wait, how do you know that? Don’t tell anyone!”

“Don’t tell them what? About your flowers?”

“About my singing! A-and, about,” Annette sighs, her words trailing off miserably. She had been so preoccupied with the fascinating new flora to notice anyone watching her. Her fingers tighten around the book, chest squeezing tight at the thought of losing her memories of happier times. “My flowers. It’s not easy to preserve them.”

It was easy for her mother. Annette never inherited any household skills, really; cooking and cleaning were both beyond her, and the one time she tried to grow a tomato plant it wilted the day it burst from the ground. She had cried for the next two days.

Her nails press against her skin, threatening to tear.

“Let’s go then.”

“Huh?” Annette echoes, but Felix had already turned and began walking. “Go where?”

“To the greenhouse,” he grumbled, turning narrow eyes her way. “Where else can we pick flowers?”

“ _We_? We’re going to pick flowers?” She asks, incredulous, eyes floating back to the sword Felix refuses to remove day or night, in the classroom, the lunch room or in the sauna. He’s going to help her with _that_? He follows her glance, muttering something under his breath before his hand unhooks the buckle. The sword slips into his hand; he turns back to her with a bark.

“Hurry up!”

“I’m coming!”

Felix turns out to be better at gardening than Annette. She sighs at the realization, standing back and directing him with the proper instructions to pluck, press, and preserve each plant with the proper occasion. Marigolds for His Highness’ birthday, roses for Dorothea’s transfer, and snowbells when professor Byleth’s hair turns green.

Gooseberries dye the page patchy scarlet when the Flame Emperor is revealed. A second rose, crushed, when Dorothea pens her a letter telling her that she’s been forced to stay in the Empire. Peonies when she dreams Dimitri has been sentenced to death, and then chrysanthemum when she wakes to find it real.

Lilies of the valley when Felix appears at her doorstep with not one but two swords on his back, promising a war. The flowers are already pressed by the time he gives her the page, sewn to the paper.

Scarlet poppies when he saves her, gritting his teeth as he swings his sword, earning a skinny crooked scar down his back. Pink orchids when she returns the favor, sending crashing thunder onto the field.

“You don’t need to protect me!” He had yelled, weary but alive.

“Of course I do!” She had hissed, and when they had won by her magic rather than his she had laughed.

Gladiolus when she kisses him for the first time, feverish and half-certain they’re going to die. He gives her baby’s breath; she gives him pine.

There aren’t many plants left to preserve when the war burns out.

“I guess that’s it for this book.” Felix tips his head her way, his mouth clicking shut when she pushes the journal over. True enough; the leather cover bulges from their additions. Nearly a quarter of the book remains unused, yet it’s thick enough to be two separate volumes. “It’s the right time to stop, don’t you think? There’s not a lot of flowers left to grow.” With the beginning of cold creeping in, there aren’t many _to_ grow, “and it’s not my strong suit.”

“Dahlia.”

“Felix?” He sighs, sliding the book back her way.

“If we start planting now, they’ll bloom by autumn. Enough time to buy a new book, don’t you think?” She stills, turning to him face him fully. Annette’s not her mother—she wasn’t born with a green thumb, and Dahlia are prickly flowers to grow.

Even so, the buckles keeping his swords in place click loose. Annette exhales, though there’s a smile curving her lips.

“We just might make it,” She relents. Felix chuckles, victory swirling in his eyes, coming around to kiss her cheeks. Her eyes narrow, refusing to lose so easily with a gentle jab. “Should we buy two?”

“Actually,” Felix smiles, “I think we’ll be just fine with one.”

**Author's Note:**

> My [ Netteflix Calendar ](https://twitter.com/flix_nette) Piece for Autumn! We'll be having leftover sales soon for a calendar that runs from April 2021 to Dec 2020. The merch is *very* cute if I do say so myself. I did this piece as well as a icon set (pastel bears AND weddings bc I'm a sap) you can find [ here ](https://twitter.com/shidreamin/status/1349547130415947779)!
> 
> I clearly love floriography haha. Most of the flowers shown are flowers that bloom in late summer/early autumn. Dahlia was chosen to be the title flower because it's how Annette sees Felix: she's wary of his dark edges, but he's genuinely kind and adoring to her. I love this couple!
> 
> [ I tweet (sometimes) ](https://twitter.com/shidreamin/)


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